The verdicts are in: The fictional Logan Gold was not found to have kidnapped a political opponent, and Redlands High School has won the San Bernardino County Mock Trial Competition. RHS will compete in the state mock trial competition in Los Angeles March 14-16.
RHS and Redlands East Valley battled it out in the San Bernardino Justice Center on Jan. 25, in a mock trial presided over by Presiding Judge Lisa Rogan and scored by District Attorney Jason Anderson and Public Defender Thomas Sone.
Both schools delivered strong performances.
“I can just say that it is impressive, the time and dedication that went into this presentation,” said Rogan.
“I would take any of you to represent me if I needed an attorney.”
Anderson commented on both teams’ strength.
“What I am most impressed with is your listening skills, responding to each other’s arguments,” Anderson said.
“These attorneys‚ they cross examine better than some attorneys in court,” he said.
Sone was impressed by the pretrial mock attorneys, who endured multiple interruptions from Rogan as she considered a motion to exclude evidence.
“I am not a pushover, and I went after you a little bit harder than I normally do,” Rogan said.
Central to both coaches’ thoughts was the pride in the Redlands school district.
“To have an all-out Redlands final like that—it was just a proud moment for our schools in Redlands. It was amazing to see how great REV was, and our students were tested,” said RHS Coach Allison Cobb.
“I’m extremely, extremely proud of all our students, especially our seniors. Our kids put in a lot of time and a lot of effort, and it is extremely impressive that we made it to finals for the entire county,” said REV Coach Dylan Zamanis.
Case facts
The mock case revolved around what appeared to be a kidnapping, in the case of People v. Gold.
Emerald Bend City Council candidate Taylor Alexander was found in one of their AirBNBs the day of a debate against political opponent Harper Dorias. Alexander claimed they heard their kidnapper say, “It all comes back around,” a slogan stated repeatedly by Dorias’ spouse, innkeeper Logan Gold. Gold’s thin alibi was a 10-minute conversation with a resident of Emerald Bend. They had left their phone behind the day of the debate to deliver flyers around town, and claimed their car broke down on a fire road, causing them to be late to the debate.
Defense argued that Alexander staged the kidnapping, and that all evidence linking Gold to it was circumstantial.
The teams debated in two sessions, with REV and RHS swapping roles as prosecution and defense. Each school had a different team performing those roles.
Morning pretrial
Pretrial attorneys argued over whether to exclude a statement Gold gave to their spouse in the presence of the police: “I was trying to keep the inn in the family for generations.”
Defense teams of both schools argued the statement was coerced, due to Gold invoking her Miranda rights prior to the statement, a police officer’s statement, “This is your opportunity to lay it all out,” and the officer’s placement of a tape recorder on the table.
Both times, the motion to exclude evidence was granted, and both times Gold was found not guilty.
Pretrial counsel argued over the applications of the 1963 case Haynes v. Washington, the 1966 case Miranda v. Arizona, the 1979 case Rhode Island v. Innis, the 1981 case Edwards v. Arizona and the 1987 case Arizona v. Mauro.
“The court in Edwards found that once you request your right to an attorney, any further form of coercion is unconstitutional. Your honor, Gold asked Detective Kim for an attorney, and after that point, Detective Kim continued to coerce, to try to elicit an incriminating response out of Gold,” said Braxton Foley of REV.
Rogan, in one of her questions, asked RHS pretrial attorney Abhisri Narayanan to apply the reasonable person standard to the officer’s statement to lay it all out.
“Your honor, a reasonable person in the defendant’s position would believe that this was a mere piece of advice, as this is consistent with the detective’s prior actions. The detective immediately left the room as soon as the defendant invoked their Miranda rights, and only came back two hours later when the defendant’s spouse demanded to speak to defendant,” Abhisri said.
Morning trial
RHS student Carol Tadros gave opening statements for the prosecutors.
“In this case, all roads lead to Gold. Every piece of physical evidence, every hole in their alibi, and all of their incriminating statements, all lead to one conclusion: that the defendant will be found guilty of kidnapping,” Carol said.
REV student Travis Coutu opened for the defense.
“Today, the prosecution has presented an outrageous claim, not substantiated by evidence, that my client, Logan Gold, committed an act of political violence in the kidnapping of Taylor Alexander. Nothing, your honor, can be further from the truth. Today the defense will cast a shadow of reasonable doubt on the prosecution’s case,” Travis said.
Each team brought forward nine witnesses, including Gold.
Witnesses for RHS were played by Kimberly Castro, Nahiara Modrow, Emily Thompson, Brileigh Guillen, Fatimah Ahmed, Tala Al Ardah, Aakriti Maske and Mikail Trimzi.
Sarah Moore and Kimberly Castro were RHS trial attorneys.
Jennine Awad Moralez, Camden Ball, Micah Brooks, Gavin Kidder, Jessica Pulido and Yeshwa Luster, Joseph Lemus and Madilyn Kramer were REV witnesses.
In closing argument for RHS, Lauren Reiter checked every box to identify Gold as the culprit.
“It was the defendant, and the defendant alone, who had the unique motive, means and opportunity to commit this crime,” Lauren said.
“Buying the same type of rope found at the crime scene, having no alibi that entire morning, parking, and then speeding away from the scene of the crime, it is not reasonable to assume these are all coincidences.”
In closing for REV, Sydney Bridgeland discredited the prosecution’s case through the conflicting opinions of experts, the lack of DNA evidence and Alexander’s personal motivation for faking the kidnapping.
“Outrageous. If there was one word to describe the prosecution’s argument this morning, it would be outrageous,” Sydney said.
“Alexander hates Gold, her policies, and her hotel,” she said, giving motivation to Alexander faking the kidnapping.
Afternoon pretrial
In the afternoon session, REV prosecuted and RHS defended.
Markus Calip, RHS’ pretrial attorney, and Arina Rupan, REV’s pretrial attorney, endured a slew of questions from Rogan.
“Detective Kim’s actions and statements were done to coerce my client to expressing an involuntary statement,” Markus said.
“At the time the officer said, ‘Lay everything out,’ did your client respond at that time?” Rogan asked.
“Your honor, my client did not say anything at that time. The phrase ‘Lay everything out’ is an accusatory remark, that my client has something incriminating to lay out,” Markus said.
“If an officer tells a defendant to lay everything out after that defendant has just invoked Miranda, is that invitation by the officer, in and of itself, a violation if the defendant says nothing?” Rogan asked.
“Yes, your honor, it is, because although my client did not immediately respond to Detective Kim’s phrase, it still added to the overall atmospheric coercion that Detective Kim was inducing on my client and her spouse,” said Markus.
Rogan brought the same heat to the prosecution.
“What do you think was the intent of making that statement? What did the officer intend Miss Gold to do? Lay everything out, or not?” Rogan asked Arina.
“Well, you honor, it does not matter what Deputy Kim’s intent was,” said Arina.
“I understand that. I would like you to consider what the officer’s intent was, because you’re telling me it’s just an invitation. You’re saying they only invited, so you are inviting me to consider what your intent was,” Rogan said.
“Oh, it was only an invitation, not a question, your honor. The statement of this is, the opportunity to let everything out. There’s an invitation, by Deputy Kim, to allow those goals and help every lawyer to select their affairs and to get Logan Gold an attorney,” Arina said.
Afternoon trial
Addison Moralez gave opening statements for RHS’ defense.
“This kidnapping was self-written, self-directed, but ultimately self-incriminating,” Addison said.
Mikail Trimzi of RHS gave a performance of self-promoting and conceited podcaster C.J. Costly, who identified himself as “a famous podcaster.”
“I run a podcast called Small Town Intrigue, but thanks to my fans it’s not so ‘small town’ anymore…we just hit 1,200 followers,” Mikail said.
He made sure to plug his podcast in his testimony and claimed to have been “busy basking in my success” the morning of the alleged kidnapping.
Nicholas Brown of REV gave closing arguments for the prosecution in the afternoon.
“Your honor, ‘Everything comes back around.’ These words were defendant Logan Gold’s signature statement, and they are also the very words the defendant used while kidnapping Mr. Alexander, opting to use violence to silence the views of their political opponent,” Nicholas said.
RHS student Emily Thompson gave closing argument for the defense.
“Your honor, today you have witnessed Taylor Alexander’s one-man show, featuring self-inflicted wounds, self-administered drugs, and self-implicating lies. That is what the evidence has revealed here today: a self-destructing fabrication, written by, directed by, and starring Taylor Alexander,” Emily said.
She also called into question the likelihood of Gold using evidence that so clearly linked the crime to her.
“If one were to use a pillowcase in a premeditated crime (to cover Alexander’s face), they would not use one from their own business, let alone with their spouse’s campaign slogan (painted) on it,” Emily said.
“I think we gave a really strong performance, and we are ready to carry on into the next season,” said REV attorney David Swanston.
“Historically, having the huge rivalry between REV and RHS, it was really interesting to have had that experience and be part of that with this great competition,” said Brileigh Guillen of RHS.
“I am really happy today, and I think everyone played so well, and amazingly. The people who organized this, the county, recognized us for our great work today, so kudos to both RHS and REV.”
For RHS, William Howo was bailiff, Aakriti Maske was clerk, Grace Wang was courtroom artist.
Michael Flynn, also a member of the RHS team, was unable to compete in the finals, but will be back for the state competition.
For REV, Heather Perrenoud was bailiff, while Annabelle Ryan was courtroom artist.
